Slate Auto Pickup Truck Bets $24,950 Will Hook Buyers

On June 24, 2026, Slate Auto put a hard number on its cheapest truck: the Slate Auto pickup truck starts at $24,950, landing in the mid-$20,000 range the company promised after abandoning its original “under $20,000” target.

Preorders open today, with production scheduled for autumn 2026 and deliveries expected to begin in “late 2026,” according to The Verge. The price matters because Slate is trying to sell an American-made electric pickup below the cost of the closest mainstream truck and EV rivals cited in the source material.

June 24 price reveal: Slate Auto pickup truck starts at $24,950

The $24,950 starting price is not the dream number Slate once floated. It is still a rare one.

Slate had previously warned that it would miss its initial “under $20,000” target after the Trump administration announced it was ending the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. The new price lands where Slate said it would, in the mid-$20,000 range.

Buyers can now place a $300 non-refundable deposit. Slate says customers who pay within the next 30 days can lock in a delivery date, while those who preorder later will be pushed back.

“but your delivery window will shift to a later time slot.”

That line from Slate’s website is doing a lot of work. The company is using a short deposit window to sort early buyers by timing, not just interest.

The base price also comes with an important caveat. TechCrunch reported that the $24,950 figure excludes taxes, title, license, registration, governmental fees, destination charges, documentation fees, and optional equipment. That means the real drive-away cost will be higher for buyers.

Still, Slate’s pitch is clear. The company is not trying to win on luxury trim, huge screens, or feature bloat. It is trying to make the entry price impossible to ignore. For more on that stripped-down pricing bet, see XOOMAR’s related analysis, $24,950 Slate Truck Rips Luxury Bloat Out of New EVs.

A sub-$25,000 EV pitch after the $7,500 tax credit disappears

The Slate Auto pickup truck arrives with a pricing claim that looks aggressive against the numbers supplied by The Verge. The average new vehicle sold for $49,220 in May, according to Cox Automotive data cited by The Verge. Small and midsize pickups averaged $43,044, while new EVs averaged $54,532.

Slate’s base truck is also cheaper than the average used vehicle price cited in the source material, $26,918. Its closest pickup competitor, the Ford Maverick, starts at around $30,000, while the Chevrolet Bolt EV begins at roughly $29,000. TechCrunch also cited the Nissan Leaf starting at around $32,000.

The price is tied to Slate’s minimalist design. TechCrunch reported that the truck has hand-crank windows, no infotainment system, and no factory paint options. Orders start with the same gray composite material, while buyers can order customizable wraps.

Slate has also raised the estimated range of the base model from 150 miles to around 205 miles, according to TechCrunch. InsideEVs reported that the truck uses a 65-kilowatt-hour lithium iron phosphate battery for that estimated range.

XOOMAR analysis: Slate’s economic argument depends on discipline. Every missing feature is part of the cost structure. No paint shop complexity. No trim maze. No infotainment stack to anchor the cabin. That could make the truck feel refreshingly direct to some buyers and too bare to others. The price will draw attention, but the product asks customers to accept trade-offs that most automakers have spent years designing around.

Slate is also selling customization as the answer to that sparseness. TechCrunch reported that the truck starts as a two-seater pickup, but can be modified into a five-seater SUV. The SUV version starts at $29,950. Slate says owners or professionals can handle the conversion, and the company has shown early “Slate University” how-to videos for tasks such as SUV conversion and adding headlight covers.

That low-entry, add-what-you-need logic echoes a wider affordability question across tech products and services: how much will users give up for a lower starting price? XOOMAR’s coverage of A $500 AI Law Firm Exposes UK Justice's Price Tag looks at that same pressure from a different market.

The 30-day deposit clock starts before autumn 2026 production

Slate says it has taken roughly 180,000 reservations to date. That is a strong early signal, but reservations and deposits are not the same as completed deliveries.

The next phase is harder. Production is scheduled to begin in autumn 2026, with customer deliveries expected to start in late 2026. Between now and then, buyers will be watching whether Slate keeps the base model at $24,950, how final specs hold up, and whether the company can move from prototype enthusiasm to factory output.

The buying process still has open questions. TechCrunch reported that Slate has said it “won’t have traditional dealerships” and plans to sell directly to customers. It also reported that Slate did not offer more details about the buying process.

The deposit structure gives Slate a near-term demand gauge. A $300 non-refundable deposit within 30 days may tell the company who is serious enough to hold a place in line. It won’t prove that the broader market wants a truck with crank windows, no built-in infotainment system, and a long menu of optional upgrades.

The next decision point is the 30-day preorder window. After that, attention shifts to production readiness in autumn 2026. Slate has the sharp price and a clean pitch. Now it has to build the affordable electric pickup on schedule, without letting options, delivery costs, or execution delays dull the point of the whole thing.

The Bottom Line

• Slate is positioning its electric pickup as a low-cost alternative in a market where EV trucks are often expensive.
• The $24,950 price is higher than Slate’s original goal but still keeps the truck in rare entry-level EV territory.
• Early buyers face a $300 non-refundable deposit and a 30-day window to secure an earlier delivery slot.